Letter: Juvenile convict should remain behind bars

On July 29, 1986, my beloved 79-year-old grandfather was brutally murdered by two Middleboro men, Jeff Roberio and Michael Eagles (Roberio was 17 and Eagles 20 at the time).

This horrific pre-meditated act of violence has affected each and every one of my family members. Most of us have a certain fear that we will live with the rest of our lives. We never forget, but learn to get through our days.

The Supreme Judicial Court and Gov. Patrick's ruling to let teenage killers be eligible for parole and knocking down their life sentence without parole is appalling. I can't seem to even wrap my mind around the fact that a 17-year-old who brutally beat my grandfather to death and was sentenced to life without parole is now eligible for parole because of this new ruling.

Have any of these politicians even considered the victims' family, some of us who still live in the town where the murderer most likely is to return? This ridiculous ruling rubs salt in wounds that will never be able to heal. They are letting the murderers out, but the victim's family still lives a life sentence because we carry this with us forever.

My family and I vow to be heard and fight to keep this animal behind bars where he belongs.